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“We Will Never Surrender Equality” – OUTBermuda

OUTBermuda pledges to challenge decision by the Bermuda Government to appeal Supreme Court same-sex marriage decision.

OUTBermuda has announced today that: “we will never surrender equality for all Bermudians, and especially the LGBTQ families and couples who deserve it.”

The group were responding to the Government of Bermuda’s decision to appeal the historic June 6 verdict by the Supreme Court of Bermuda that overturned the Government’s decision to ban same-sex marriages.

Original litigant Roderick Ferguson, said: “Just one month ago, LGBT+ Bermudians inched closer to our goal of restoring marriage equality.  We regret this ill-advised and costly decision to appeal the Supreme Court’s finding, and we will summon our voices and resources again as a united community to prevail.”

OUTBermuda, which served as a co-litigant in the original lawsuit, will join again with Roderick Ferguson, Maryellen Jackson and many allies including Carnival Corporation, the worlds largest cruise ship line, seeking to defeat the Government’s appeal.

Adrian Hartnett-Beasley, one of OUTBermuda’s directors, said: “we have strength not only in justice but in our numbers – including our respected faith leaders like Sylvia Hayward-Harris, along with citizen-activists including Julia and Judith Aidoo-Saltus, Chai T, Wesley Methodist Church, and Douglas NeJaime. We’ve made outstanding progress with our business advocates led by Carnival Corporation and many encouraging Bermudian-owned/based businesses and employers.”

Legal counsel will once again be provided by Rod S. Attride-Stirling (ASW Law Limited) and Mark Pettingill (Chancery Legal).

OUTBermuda is a registered charity (#973) which promotes and supports the wellbeing, health, dignity, security, safety and protection of the LGBT+ communities in Bermuda.  Their mission is to advance human rights, and the promotion of equality and diversity relating to Bermuda’s LGBT+ people.

To donate to OUTBermuda and help with their legal costs, click here:

PREVIEW: Trans Pride Season at The Marlborough Theatre

As part of its extensive year-long programme of performances and events under the title Growth Spurt, made possible by Arts Council Funding, Brighton’s Marlborough Theatre presents Trans Pride Season.

THE SEASON launches on Wednesday, July 18 with a Trans Life Drawing workshop at 7.30pm (£5/£5) that aims to combat cis-normativity in figurative art.

On Thursday, July 19 at 7.30pm there is Trans Pride Art Night at featuring Emma Frankland headlining a mixed bill of performers including Ellie Stamp, Cool Dad aka Katy Jalili and Miranda Porter (£6/£5).

Juno Dawson
Juno Dawson

Juno Dawson’s Lovely Trans Literary Salon hosted by acclaimed author of The Gender Games Juno Dawson on Thursday July 26 at 7.30pm (£9.50/ £7.50 concession and some PWYC available), features a wealth of exceptional writers, including author of A New Girl, Rhyannon Styles.

The Marlborough, New Writing South, Trans Pride and The Centre for the Study of Sexual Dissidence have also commissioned a writer in residence at the Marlborough for the duration of Trans Pride Week.

All events are at The Marlborough Theatre, 4 Princes Street, Brighton BN2 1RD

To book tickets, click here:

 

PICTURE DIARY: Pianoman celebrates 50th birthday with cancer fundraiser

Colin Blanchflower, aka The Pianoman, turned over his 50th birthday party last month to a fundraiser for the charity Cancer is a Drag (reg. no.1160129) at the Amsterdam Bar & Kitchen.

The birthday boy (center)
The birthday boy (center)

ARTISTS appearing included Dave Lynn, Martha D’Arthur, Trudi Styles, Linda Bacardi, Stephanie Von Clitz and David Raven; £538.37 was raised from the raffle for the charity.

Alan Bugg, from Cancer is a Drag, said: “Thanks to Colin Blanchflower, Tony Lupton and the team at Amsterdam Bar & Kitchen, our Patron Dave Lynn, our Ambassador Steven Banks, and all the fantastic performers and friends of Colin Blanchflower. The money raised helps us provide financial support and wellbeing to people, and their families, living with cancer in England & Wales.

“Special thanks to Jean Hudson (our raffle ticket seller) who I never realised was an actual beneficiary whom we’d supported four years ago in Brighton – I am so pleased she is doing well and so kind of her to give up her time to help us. I’m over the moon that we met – it makes it all so worthwhile!”

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Colin Blanchflower added: “My special thanks to Dave Lynn, Tom Jenkins, Ritchie Hawker, Krissie DuCann, Damien Cawthorne, James Pullen, Steve Williams, Steven Banks, Peter Gretton, David Raven and David Harris for donating their time for such a great cause, and to Jason Thorpe for stepping in and sorting the sound out with Andy Magraw to give us a fabulous night enjoyed by everyone.”

PICTURE DIARY: Dave Lynn at 60!

To celebrate his 60th birthday last month, friends and fellow performers joined entertainer Dave Lynn for a VIP flight on the British Airways i360.

FRIENDS old and new answered the call from Tamzin Plank to toast the trooper with a glass or two of bubbly and enjoy a slice of birthday cake.

Many made the journey down from London to offer their birthday wishes. It was particularly lovely to see Michael Topping, who worked as the duo Dave Lynn & Malitza with Dave in the 1990s and whose health continues to improve following a stroke; Jennifer Scott, looking as fabulous as ever; and 1980s diva, Kelly Wilde.

Stephen Richards, aka Lola Lasagne, marked the occasion with a few choice words delivered 450 feet in the air as storm clouds gathered around the i360 capsule. Never was Dave’s catchphrase “There may be trouble ahead” more relevant!

Once back on firm ground the party moved on to Legends where Drag With No Name, aka Scott Burey, was at the top of his game and everyone danced till the early hours of the morning.

Scott said: “I’ve had the extreme pleasure and honour to have known Dave for almost 25 years, and I consider myself a very lucky person to be able to say so. To lots of people he is the very funny mischievous man on stage that wears ladies clothes, and makes people laugh out loud.

To me, he is the kind, sweet, giving, loving, inspirational soul with the biggest of hearts, who has time for everybody at any given time. One of life’s truest of gentlemen – whom I admire, respect and love a great deal – and I‘m a better person because of him. Happy birthday Miss Lynnus!”

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Once back on firm ground the party moved on to Legends where Drag With No Name, aka Scott Burey, was at the top of his game and everyone danced till the early hours of the morning.

Scott said: “I’ve had the extreme pleasure and honour to have known Dave for almost 25 years, and I consider myself a very lucky person to be able to say so. To lots of people he is the very funny mischievous man on stage that wears ladies clothes, and makes people laugh out loud.

To me, he is the kind, sweet, giving, loving, inspirational soul with the biggest of hearts, who has time for everybody at any given time. One of life’s truest of gentlemen – whom I admire, respect and love a great deal – and I‘m a better person because of him. Happy birthday Miss Lynnus!”

YouGov survey explores attitudes toward sex, dating and relationships with people living with HIV

YouGov survey finds 3 in 10 LGBT+ people would ‘swipe left’ on their App to reject someone who has HIV and on effective treatment according to HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT).

♦ LESS than half of LGBT+ respondents implied they would ‘swipe right’, with one-quarter “unsure”.

♦ Just 69 per cent of  LGBT+ people would feel comfortable  kissing someone living with HIV on effective treatment

♦ Over half of LGBT+ people don’t believe that people living with HIV on effective treatment can’t pass it on.

♦ A further quarter (24 per cent) ‘don’t know’ which way they’d swipe, while less than half (44 per cent) said they ‘wouldn’t’ swipe left, implying that they’d give the person a chance.

The YouGov research, which explores people’s attitudes towards sex, relationships and HIV, reveals a shocking level of stigma steeped in a severe lack of understanding of HIV transmission.

When presented with the statement “I would feel comfortable kissing someone living with HIV on effective treatment”, one in five (20 per cent) disagreed.

Regardless of treatment, HIV cannot be passed on through kissing.

When asked about condomless sex, just one in five (20 per cent) agreed that they would feel comfortable having ‘unprotected’ sex with someone living with HIV on effective treatment.

Science has proven that people living with HIV who are on effective treatment cannot pass the virus onto sexual partners, regardless of whether they use a condom or not.

The PARTNER study examined 58,000 instances of sex between an HIV positive person on effective treatment and a partner without HIV, and there were zero cases of HIV transmission.

Most people are unaware of this, and many still don’t believe it when it’s explained to them.

♦ Over half (51 per cent) of LGBT+ respondents believed the statement “people living with HIV and on effective treatment cannot pass the virus on at all” was false.

♦ Just one-quarter (26 per cent) thought the statement was true, while over one in five (22 per cent) didn’t know.

♦ Surprisingly, the knowledge was not much higher among men than women, with 47 per cent of gay and bi men identifying the statement as false. This compared with 59 per cent of gay and bi women.

♦ Compared to the rest of the population, the results differed in part but not entirely, with over one-third (35 per cent) of people saying they would ‘swipe left’ on a dating App for someone living with HIV.

♦ Overall, almost one in two (43 per cent) didn’t say they would feel comfortable kissing someone living with HIV, and just over half (55 per cent) of respondents did not believe that people living with HIV on effective treatment cannot pass the virus on.

Sadiq, a circus performer from London who is living with HIV and on effective treatment, said: “I find the information that I can’t pass HIV on is always met with surprise.

“Knowing I can’t pass it on opens up a world where I’m OK to be HIV positive and still have relationships, without the virus being a barrier.

“The Can’t Pass It On campaign gives people living with HIV a very easy way to inform and educate without having to get into specifics.”

Ian Green
Ian Green

Ian Green, Chief Executive at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “It’s so important to get this message out to as many people as possible. We hear on a near daily basis how out of date beliefs about how HIV is passed on are negatively affecting the lives and mental health of people HIV, and it urgently needs to change.

“Amazing medical progress has been made, but knowledge of HIV quite clearly hasn’t kept up with that progress.

“Effective treatment means HIV shouldn’t be a barrier to anyone doing anything they want to and that includes having a fulfilling relationship and sex life.

“We all have a role to play in this and it’s high time for everyone to stop doubting the science and accept the realities of HIV as that’s the best way to tackle the abhorrent stigma that still surrounds the virus.

“It’s truly devastating to hear that so many wouldn’t swipe right for or even kiss someone living with HIV who’s on effective treatment.

“We’ve known for three decades that HIV can’t be passed on through day-to-day contact and that includes kissing.”

To find out more about HIV transmission, click here:

FEATURE: MindOut – Trans wellbeing – how can we all contribute? 

Monica needed all the resilience she could summon up. She was furious at yet more transphobic, homophobic and sexist rhetoric coming from the right-wing press.

SOMETIMES she didn’t read it, but right now she felt she needed to know. She knew she had to take care of herself, she’d been so depressed and anxious a couple of years ago that she’d wondered if she’d make it through. She felt more hopeful about her own life now, things had definitely improved, but what about other trans women?

Monica knew how lucky she had been. She had a friendly, open, supportive GP. They had made a huge difference to her coming out as trans and seeking support. She had a job which she enjoyed, another massive bonus, and she had been able to keep employed through her transition. Not easy, but she was still there.

Other things had been much harder. Her family, for instance. Public harassment had been, and was still, horribly stressful, frightening, isolating. And the media ‘debates’ were part of that too. She was particularly distressed by attacks on trans people on national television, with trans women in particular attacked very viciously. She felt that the increased visibility of trans people, which was wonderful, also made everyone more vulnerable, which was terrifying.

MindOut Trans Advocacy services
MindOut runs one of the first Trans Advocacy services in the UK. All our services equally value the experiences and rights of trans women and trans men with those of cisgender women and men. We know that Monica isn’t the only person whose mental health has been affected by publicity around ‘the bathroom debate’, or misleading figures on how many children are being given ‘sex-change hormones’ (spoiler alert – the answer is none). We’re concerned that this narrative misrepresents the truth of many trans, non-binary and gender variant people, which is that their gender is simply not applicable to debate – it is fact.

We work with many trans and gender variant people who are struggling with their mental health and self-esteem in extremely hostile environments. Street harassment and rejection from peers or family is compounded by the transphobia reflected in the poor treatment under the current NHS referral system. Gaining access to life-saving treatment can take up to four years for a first appointment with a specialist service.

Trans MindOut service user
When I finally conjured up the strength to come out as my authentic self I was hit with horrific abuse, intolerance and hardship. I was married to a woman, had two kids and lived all my life as a man. Internally, I was a mess, my self-hatred was unbearable and I wanted to die. I was living a painful existence because I was a woman pretending to be a man, lying to everyone, including myself. At 51 I thought, “Shall I kill myself and end this misery right now? Or shall I speak to someone about transitioning, come out as trans, see what that feels like? If it’s awful, and it might be, then I can kill myself. At least I would die as me, the real me.” This was the most liberating and empowering thought I had ever had!

I told my wife who threw me out of our home, threatening that I’d never see my kids again. I was bombarded with calls from my wife’s friends and family all pretty much repeating what my wife had said. I worked for my brother-in-law who threatened my life and sacked me. At this point I felt like I’d been hit at full speed by a truck. I no longer felt empowered, everything was so out of control, I’d made a huge mistake, lost my kids, home, job, pride, dignity – everything!

I walked and walked in a daze, distressed and confused. I walked through the night. I didn’t sleep, I’d nowhere to sleep even if I wanted to. I found myself at my cousin’s flat early the next morning. She is lesbian, but sadly her response to my situation was no less angry. However, I was able to shower and sleep, and I felt safe. She had an advocate at MindOut and suggested I go there. When I met with the advocate, this was the first friendly, caring response I had. I didn’t feel judged and I didn’t feel humiliated, I felt supported. Over the coming months he helped me apply for housing and benefits, and he came with me to see my GP.

I was penniless and couldn’t afford food. I was broken about not seeing my kids and frightened that they’d be disgusted by me. I was frightened of my wife’s family who continued to threaten and abuse me. But I’d started this rollercoaster and I needed to hold on to see what the end looked like.

I started to feel more confident thanks to MindOut, they helped me be more resilient. At MindOut I met people like me, struggling like me. I started to dress in female clothes. Some friends I met at MindOut gave me clothes they no longer wanted. I bought make-up in the pound shop and at night I’d go from one charity shop to another going through bin bags of clothing and patching together ill-fitting outfits from tatty dirty items of clothing; I had no choice, I couldn’t afford clothes.

Twelve month later, I’m still estranged from my family and unemployed. I’ve been awfully depressed and continue to struggle with thoughts of suicide. I was housed by the council but it was a fight and only happened because of my MindOut advocate. I’m on hormones and I’m under the Gender Identity Clinic in London. I do see a future, I have hope, and at times I feel happy. I made an awfully hard choice and I’ve been hated by others for making that choice, sometimes I hate myself for making it too – but, if I didn’t I’d be dead today, no question.

Photo by Stella Pix of MindOut stall at Trans Pride Brunswick Square.

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